Mayor to push for immigration reform in D.C.

Published 1:00 am, Wednesday, March 1, 2006

DANBURY - A group co-founded by Mayor Mark Boughton will meet in Washington, D.C., next week to lobby federal officials to reform the nation's immigration policies.

"We'll be holding a press event and we've invited some members of Congress to talk to us as well," Boughton said. He said the group has contacted U.S. Sen.
Hillary Clinton
, D-N.Y., and Sen.
Joseph Lieberman
, D-Conn., "but we haven't had any confirmations yet."

In December, Boughton and
Steve Levy
, the top elected official in Suffolk County, N.Y., formed Mayors and Executives for Immigration Reform.

"We are going to look for communities struggling with the same issues we are," said Boughton, who has been wrestling with issues posed by an influx of thousands of immigrants from Brazilian, Ecuador and other countries.

Boughton said the time is right to deal with immigration reform, and the issue will come to the forefront Thursday when the
Senate Judiciary Committee
holds its first meetings on the subject.

The
House of Representatives
passed a controversial "get tough" enforcement bill in December that seeks to crack down on illegal immigration through a series of enforcement measures.

Whether that bill will become law is doubtful, however, and the Senate is scheduled to take up alternatives this week.

Sen.
Arlen Specter
unveiled a 305-page immigration bill that combines enhanced enforcement, a new guest-worker program, and a way for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. to work legally.

Specter's measure combines features of the House bill, along with another bill authored by Sen.
John McCain
, R-Ariz., and Sen
Edward Kennedy
, D-Mass., along with a third bill from two Senate Republicans.